The World According to Simon Stålenhag
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- čas přidán 12. 03. 2021
- A video essay on Simon Stålenhag, the Swedish painter who paints retro-science fiction artworks of technology left to rot in ruin, inspired in part by the failed technology experiments of the Soviet Union. Stålenhag's paintings can be found in the books Tales of the Loop (also an Amazon Series), Notes from the Flood, The Electric State and The Labyrinth.
In this essay I breakdown the world according to Simon Stålenhag, to show his essential retro-futuristic philosophy.
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Music from Twin Musicom, bensound and Nicolas Gasparini.
#Stålenhag #art #paintings #scifi - Krátké a kreslené filmy
There's another implied question you missed at 5:44: what if the technology starts re-building itself, and uses humanity to do this? "The Electric State" provides an unsettling glimpse into this possibility.
And its nothing short of terrifying.
His world makes me want to cry.
Not out of a pain, or anguish that one would typically think would bring a person to tears, although these were a part of it.
It was of a sort of knowledge that we were both missing this kind of a present because of past choices we made, and that we were realizing exactly the world in decay and turmoil of his works.
It is a melancholy and nostalgia.
Retro-Futurist Nostalgia.
Nostalgia for a future that we do not have, rather than for a past that was.
Great comment, gave me a lot to think about!
I agree, it makes me want to cry as well.
Gay
@@user-ow4ij8ix3m a..........are you g......
What is this "Im 14 and this deep" Bullshit? People need to get a grip they shouldn't be encouraging your stupidity.
The underscore with the narration is immaculate
Thank you for making this, I have been browsing around all day trying to find a summary of his work. Nice job and thanks again.
Just watch the series, no?
1:51 The guy's actually carrying things from his old house into Officer Ribbing's house after the flood ravaged the landscape.
damn this deserves so much more attention. it's too bad this is a pretty obscure topic on the internet, or at least it took me a long while of going down a rabbit hole to find it. I hope it does gain more attention as once i saw one painting of his as even a thumbnail, I was instantly hooked
You have a such a great way of storytelling. I don't know who you are exactly but mark my words you will be big one day! Continue making such stuff, I would love to watch more.
I love symbolism behind things like this and how it really makes you think differently of the world. I love how deeply it potrays our surroundings and the artwork in general is amazing. It's exactly the type of artwork I would've come up with as well if it weren't already made by him. It's beautiful.
The most disturbing part of Stalenhag's work is how seeded it is in reality. It plays on our paranoia that we may ruin our environment and how careless we are about the future of technology. Thank you for this video!
Made me cry.
This definitely deserves more attention! It’s very insightful and well made
Thanks!
This makes me cry, not because of the sorrow, or anything like that. The fact that we cannot understand the story of this, bits and pieces from CZcams shared, but not the entire story.
The way you describe and reflect upon art, is art itself. I feel like your video added to my overall experience with Stalenhag's work. Nice!
This perfectly describes the feeling I got whilst playing stray (the cat Story game) or seeing the lonely Robots lushed by moss in the ghibli movie castle in the sky
I recently, a month or two ago, happened to stumble across these amazing paintings. After a little research I started to follow Stalenhag creations and storyline. Like Mr. Spock would say, " totally fascinating ".
Thanks for sharing 🙏. Simon definitely has an 3rd eye view of life. Im an 22 year Professional Tattooist and Artist. I think Simon S is probably has some of THE best visuals, imagery and futuristic way of how humans are addicted to technology.
Great illustrations. Captures the atmosphere I want for a game.
try ,,verlorne n verstand´´ its not this futuristic but it gives this destorted vibe
1:42 - The books actually set in the 80's with the sequel, Things from the Flood being set in the 90's (I have the tabletop RPG's based on the book which simon himself worked on which goes into more detail about the setting)
This needs so much attention
Beautifully described and explained. Well done
His work helped me through a really lonely time, and then when tales from the loop was turned into a live action series, I was ecstatic. Though it did bring back some serious melancholy, I adore this artist.
This video deserves more views, because you did an excellent job
a childhood dream of mine, the same way some dream of going to space, was to adapt the electric state to film. sadly that's been taken from me, but this video was such great motivation for that time.
Simon still has many other works worthy of adaption, don't give up!
You can still make your own interpretation of the film :)
I forgot about this concept. Thank you.
Great video essay!
Your content is exceptional
Just a note; The letter "T" in certain words should not be replaced by the letter "D".
Good video, glad I stumbled upon this.
Thanks for creating this video
2:40 - Shout out to Bridgeport, CT.
Got all his books his paintings are so melancholy but also beautiful
A man who runs to their nature gods out of fear of technology is no more or less foolish then the man who builds computer gods. About as foolish as crying for the loss of a future that never was.
Still it’s really cool art with cool concepts.
I can tell that you're a very brilliant person
One of my favorite artists
This is great. I loved the show, as well.
Worlds explored since the coof circus: The one of Death Stranding (dead and empty but also beautiful and haunting), the one of Horizon Zero Dawn (alive and complex), the one of Vandermeer's Borne (3 books, hostile in every aspect), the one of Simon Stalenhag (memories of a past that doesn't exist).
new subscription from me. very well put, beautifully written.
Great video!!
There is also an absolutely fantastic tabletop game built off Simon's world building and art.
Please, provide the music tracks, especially the first one. It is so good.
2nd one is bensound, maybe check there for the first one.
Damn. I remember reading the book. It was one hell of a ride.
Wow love it good job
I had no idea they made it into an Amazon series! Wow!
Excellent commentary
Could you please tell me what the song in the background is, that you used starting in minute 2:20 ?
I love it so much and cannot find out what its name is....
👏👏👏 I am glad to see intellectuals making videos like this explaining the purpose of dystopian arts such as electric state, tales from the loop, blade runner etc. It makes more people aware of our every day world and learn that humans should stay together and that technology is an evil thing that can separate us and ruin our every day lives.
Tecnology is not evil. Look at vaccines, cars and electricity. It becomes dangerous when it falls into the wrong hands
That video was really interesting
Tales from the Loop is set in the 80's
I am from Sweden and this is so cool. It reminds me of a game called generation zero.( it is worth checking out on xbox gamepass)
1909.. that's remarkable insight into the human-machine condition for so long ago
I love this guy's work so much
I would not Say that the series takes place in the 50s, at least the paitings dont, i think that the series takes place in the 70s maybe 80s, think that becouse the cars in the paitings are real ones built in the 70s
amazon prime cant do much more this masterpiece art "the electric state".. only netflix can do this world according simon stanlehag , just >>> like "love+robot+death"...
No Amazon can do... Only it needs a great team of briliant artists.
Man i actually wanna see electric state made into a movie by netflix
@@bogie_bandit218 yea.. i wan to know
the sun doesnt Rise or Set, it's a fixed Star. The world Turns.
may i ask what's the title of the background music? 🙏
What genre atsmofre is this can someone tell me?
Loved his work since I first came upon it in 2018.
How good/faithful is the Tales from the Loop series?
In terms of art style, it's remarkably similar, and the story is roughly on point too. As a TV show, it's not as engaging as I hoped it would be though. It's more visually spectacular than exciting to watch.
@@joshuakrook1 Sounds like it's more "art in motion" than anything. Still, if it's not bad I think I'll check out out. Thanks for the info, I've been a Stalenhag fan for a few years and never knew about this series until now.
@@Redn2000 Personally, I felt that the show wasn't as much about the machines themselves, but how the people involved were affected by the machines. And, at least in my opinion, it did a really good job with that (I almost cried multiple times, it gets pretty sad lol)
Future is a Dream, my child... Because when one stops dreaming, future is no more.
Because it is hard to remember what we dreamed when we are awake.
I like Stalenhag, he is good.
Corrected title: The world according to Simon Stålenhag and E. M. Forster
Where are the windmills ?
It's not fictional it's called Cern in Switzerland
Indubitably
U should right a book
Thanks! I intend to write up all of these reviews into a book "The World According to _______". You can find my other writing here: newintrigue.com/
My world is a world in we’re in my summary I think the world can never be supernatural as there will always be something wrong and I think that the world will probably be like the future in the book because it shows basically that sweet technology is the end of their sweet nature as nothing lasts forever even technology the world is not just a planet but it’s more then that it’s a world of life and how it can be ruined by the same life that resides on the planet
You have a great narration voice. Not British but a fairly distinctive N American. I think most prefer your dialect as authoritative. There’s a show where the British Captain guy speaks American because it’s a space luxury cruise ship and supposed to give him a more comforting, professional manner. Funny how it used to be the other way. Altho thinking about it I guess I’d want my spaceship cruise captain to be American for some weird reason.
Australian, although spent so much time in the UK that maybe it muddled it a bit haha
💜🤘
basically tales of the loop is horizon zero dawn
Hypothetical future, or the real world outside the matrix? Maybe we are living inside one of those towers. Connected and dreaming.
grand father and a grandson*
True! My mistake!
lil beauty
I just think the robots are cool
It is beautiful, haunting, thought provoking imagery that maybe points out the dark side of technology. However, a little more context. Technology is the simple byproduct of humans innate instinct to survive by creating tools to protect and provide for family. Nothing more, nothing less. This has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years. Just know, before modern civilization life was incredibly brutal, filled with suffering and was very short for everyone.
The only thing that’s different now is there are many tools now that can end our existence.
Who gets to tell who which tool is wrong. “Your bow and arrow is bad so I need to knock you in the head and take it from you.” Tyrants like the Japanese Emperor, Mao, Stalin and hitler believed they knew better. Be very careful who you give power to control your life by controlling your technology.
Why do you use technology to shame others for using technology? Does that make you feel better about yourself? Better than others?
I don't think the aura of mystery necessarily has to disappear when you translate such art to cinema.
It's just a shitty adaption.
And also mass market cinematography makes this almost impossible. You would need long static scenic shots like in Stalker (1971) or Blade Runner 2049, but then people complain that it's boring.
Imagine that feeling of chilling on a hill with some friends in quiet contemplation on a warm autumn evening watching the sunset with zero stress, listening to the leaves rustling in the wind. Or taking a walk in a quiet snowy night through some deep fresh snow in a quaint little village.
You can't capture that feeling with a 2 second shot. 😂
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Dorohedoro, Cowboy Bebop, Ergo Proxy, Kill la Kill and Girls Last Tour, I think, are all anime that perfectly capture the feeling behind the art.
It is certainly possible. It's just extremely rare, requiring exceptional talent.
= D
Ironically these images looks similar to images created by AI
MODERAN
한국인 없나?
It doesn't auto-translate for some reason.
I dig Stalenhag, but people put way too much stock into his stuff. Dude took seventies/early eighties scenes and added scifi elements. That's it. It's fine, but I wouldn't call it pinnacle scifi by any means. His books consist of stories that are scattered paragraphs across a hundred or so pages. All total, about ten pages of prose in each one. I think if he wants to be taken a bit more seriously by the scifi/literary community he needs to write more and do a much better job with his stories. Right now he's just an artist who attaches short blurbs to his works.
People put way to much stock in worshipping artist’s/celebrity and sports people, materials, authors in general I liked Electric State, it was entertaining and that’s it, sad world we live in.
@@aural_supremacyabd you just feel the need to downplay some one art because? fk off with this shit need to put down people
I do agree, but it does feel a little bit like your underselling it. I wouldn't call it the pinnacle of storytelling, but in terms of visual storytelling it is definitely up there. The part of his work that is the most notable (to me at least) isn't the storytelling, although it is pretty good for the little we get (at least from what I've seen), but more so the emotions and memories it conjures up.
Is there anything interesting you would recommend instead of Stalenhag? Looking for some good Illlustrated Novels or Graphic Novels!
I must confess that I haven’t read his prose, but it’s the paintings that attract me. To me they convey the same feeling a Syd Mead painting does; a nostalgia to a place that never existed..
Gen zero
no. this story is more incomplete understanding of reality.
we need a relationship with Lord Jesus in order to survive.
go to a man of God who knows the difference between titles baptism and and in the the of Lord Jesus Christ.
no further than your nearest Apostolic Pentecostal minister
Nobody who believes in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, or god, understands reality.
@canadiangemstones7636
Without God how can you understand anything?
Not the only well known Swedish man named Simon